By Chiemeka Ugwowo
AFCON 2027 QUALIFIERS: NIGERIA TO BEGIN CAMPAIGN AGAINST MADAGASCAR 
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the fixtures, kick-off times and venues for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) PAMOJA 2027 qualifiers, with Nigeria set to begin its qualification journey against Madagascar.
The Super Eagles will host Madagascar on Friday, September 25, 2026, in their opening Group L encounter, before travelling to face Guinea-Bissau on September 29, 2026 in Matchday 2.
The qualifiers will run from September 24 to October 6, 2026, with 48 African nations competing across 12 groups of four teams for places at the tournament finals scheduled to take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
Nigeria’s Group L rivals include Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau and co-host Tanzania. Although Tanzania has already secured automatic qualification as one of the host nations, the highest-ranked team among the remaining sides in the group will join them at the finals.
Several major clashes headline the opening round of fixtures, including a West African heavyweight battle between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, while Morocco host Gabon, Egypt welcome Angola, and Algeria face Zambia.
The AFCON 2027 qualifiers will be played on a home-and-away basis over six matchdays. After the first two rounds in September and October, action will resume during the FIFA international window in November 2026, before the final qualification rounds take place in March 2027.
CAF confirmed that teams finishing first and second in groups without a host nation will automatically qualify for the continental showpiece.
The 2027 edition of AFCON will mark the return of Africa’s biggest football tournament to East Africa for the first time in over 50 years.
